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One day trips

Nymphenburg Palace

(Tram 17 from Hauptbahnhof, get off at Schloss Nymphenburg). When the Bavarian royals packed up to leave town, this is where they headed. The spacious palace park – a true kingdom for people out walking – enchants with watercourses and pavilions.

Neuschwanstein Castle World-famous fairytale castle built by King Ludwig II on an imposing rock in the seclusion of the mountains. Close by are the old castle of Hohenschwangau and the crystal-clear Alpsee lake. Catch a train to Füssen (a Bayern-Ticket for the round trip costs EUR 22 for one person (2p for €26, 3p for €30, 4p for €30, 5p for €34, on weekdays not valid before 9 am). Bus 78 brings you to the castle(s) from the station in Füssen. The castle’s interior can only be visited with a tour; tickets should best be bought online (www.hohenschwangau.de) and cost EUR 12. We recommend you take the train shortly before 10am since you really need the whole day and the Bayern Ticket is not valid until 9am. It is arguable whether the interior is worth all the hassle anyway – the post-card-view is entirely free, just walk up to Marien-brücke, which spans a 90-meter-deep gorge with a waterfall in it – it‘s a spectacular sight by its own right.

Lake Starnberg

(S-Bahn line 6 to Starnberg)

The only thing you need to buy is a S-Bahn ticket, spend the day at “Starnberger See” or “Ammersee” and enjoy the green areas of Munich.

Our closest lake is about 20 km long and 5 km wide. It is a popular place for daytrips. 20 km of the 49 km shoreline are reserved for recreational purposes only. Four ships sail on the lake, also to Berg, where King Ludwig II died – which happened like this: in 1886 he was declared insane by his own government because his passion for expensive castles was draining Bavaria‘s budget (he was grounded to Schloss Berg, which is a posh hotel now). Oddly enough, he was quite a popular king and rumours said he was planning to escape to reclaim his power. Coincidentally, he became suicidal and drowned himself in the lake (where it is only waist-deep). His shrink, who said he was not at all suicidal, drowned too, coincidentally! Years later, the royal coroner suddenly remembered in his deathbed that there were two bullets in the King’s back, which always struck him odd. Especially since seven witnesses have coincidentally died or disappeared soon after the King’s death. However, others say this is only a wild conspiracy theory. Ironically, nowadays Ludwig’s castles are fairytale cash-cows for Bavaria’s government.